Stuffed Peppers

If you're like me, you've had jobs where you were surrounded by coworkers. (I'm talking mostly pre-pandemic, when many, if not most of us, worked in a place where we could see our coworkers.) During down time - between calls (if you're in a phone center), between customers, what-have-you - many of us chat with our coworkers about life, family, and, of course, eventually, food.

In my last job, in a call center, several of us would talk about what we'd had for dinner the night before, dinner tonight, dinner over the weekend...in other words, food. The conversation almost always started with one coworker saying, "You'll never believe what I fixed for dinner last night!"

One coworker in particular, who, like me, was a vegetarian, loved stuffed peppers, and who could blame her? What's not to love? The peppers (an edible container) stuffed with anything and/or everything!

So, with that in mind, here are six vegetarian stuffed pepper recipes to help you through the day, including Italian Grilled Stuffed Peppers and Samosa Stuffed Peppers. Enjoy!

STUFFED PEPPERS

Recipe Yield: Servings: 8

Source: The New American Heart Association Cookbook

Book Title: The New American Heart Association Cookbook

View this online at https://diabeticgourmet.com/diabetic-recipes/stuffed-peppers.

Ingredients

4 large bell peppers, any color or combination

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 medium tomatoes, chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 medium crookneck squash, diced (about 2 cups)

1 medium zucchini, diced (about 2 cups)

1/2 cup diced onion (1 medium)

2 medium cloves garlic, minced, or 1 tsp bottled minced garlic

2 cups cooked brown rice (1/2 to 2/3 cup uncooked)

1/2 cup grated fat-free or low-fat Cheddar cheese (2 ounces)

1/4 cup sliced water chestnuts (2 ounces)

1 cup no-salt-added tomato juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut peppers in half lengthwise, removing stems, ribs, and seeds. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat, swirling to coat bottom. Saute tomatoes, crookneck squash, zucchini, onion, and garlic until zucchini is tender-crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Don't overcook.

In a medium bowl, combine rice, cheese, and water chestnuts. Gently stir into skillet. Stuff pepper halves with vegetable mixture. Place in 9-inch round or square casserole dish, then carefully pour tomato juice around peppers. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 119; Fat: 1 g; Sodium: 68 mg; Cholesterol: 1 mg; Protein: 5 g; Carbohydrates: 23 g

Diabetic Exchanges: 1/2 Bread/Starch, 1/2 Low-Fat Milk, 2 Vegetable

SAMOSA STUFFED PEPPERS

This comes from the March 2014 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 71. It starts off, “The filling for these stuffed peppers tastes a lot like samosas, small Indian turnovers. STORE/SERVE: If making ahead, skip final baking step. Cool stuffed peppers, cover tightly with foil, and refrigerate up to three days or freeze up to three months. Thaw, if necessary, then cover with foil, and finish baking as in step 3.” Serves 8.

To view this online, click here.

4 large red bell peppers, halved

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped (2 cups)

4 tsp. curry powder

1 Tbs. garam masala

2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1 cup basmati rice

1/4 cup red lentils, rinsed and drained

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas or 1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

2 large carrots, finely diced (1 cup)

1 cup green beans, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup raisins or dried currants, optional

1/2 cup unsalted peanuts or cashews, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place halved bell peppers cut side down in two large baking dishes. Cover with foil, and bake 25 minutes, or until peppers begin to soften.

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté 3 to 5 minutes. Add curry powder, garam masala, and ginger, and cook 1 minute. Stir in rice, lentils, salt, and 4 cups water. Add chickpeas, carrots, green beans, and raisins (if using). Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 15 minutes, or until most of liquid is absorbed, stirring once or twice. Remove rice mixture from heat, stir in peanuts, and season with salt, if desired.

Flip bell pepper halves. Fill each with 3/4 cup rice mixture. Re-cover baking dishes, and bake 15 minutes. Uncover, and bake 5 to 10 minutes more.

nutritional information Per Stuffed pepper: Calories: 288; Protein: 10 g; Total Fat: 10 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 42 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 241 mg; Fiber: 8 g; Sugar: 8 g; Vegan; Gluten-Free

QUINOA-STUFFED PEPPERS

This is from Fiona Haynes, who was About.com's Low Fat Cooking expert, and then on The Spruce Eats, part of the dotdash family that About.com morphed into. While Fiona appears to have left the Spruce Eats, and I have yet to find a new link for this, it's still worth posting.

Anyway, Fiona wrote, “These quinoa-stuffed peppers make a nice low-fat meatless entree or side dish. Quinoa is a wonderful option for those who can't eat gluten, plus it makes a nice change from rice or meat-filled peppers. To make 1 cup of cooked quinoa, you'll need 1/2 cup of quinoa, rinsed, then cooked in 1 cup of water or broth for extra flavor. Make sure your broth is gluten free if you are feeding this to someone who has a gluten problem.

“I like my peppers to be yielding but still have something of a bite to them. If you prefer your peppers to be softer still, bake them for 10 minutes or so longer.” Prep Time: 0 minutes; Cook Time: 45 minutes; Total Time: 45 minutes; Serves 4

Ingredients

2 large red or yellow bell peppers, halved lengthwise, stem intact

2 tsp canola oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 medium carrots, diced

1 1/2 cups diced cremini mushrooms

1 cup cooked quinoa

1/2 cup fat-free, low-sodium vegetable broth

1 cup chopped baby spinach

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Steam or simmer bell peppers in a large pot for 5 minutes until slightly soft.

Heat oil in medium skillet and gently sauté onions, garlic and carrots on medium-low heat until softened.

Add mushrooms and cook until soft. Stir in cooked quinoa. Add broth, spinach and parsley and cook for 2 minutes.

Scoop one fourth of the quinoa mixture into each bell pepper half, packing firmly.

Place peppers in a baking dish. Cover the bottom of the dish with 1/2 cup of water. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, until filling is hot.

Per Serving: Calories 198, Calories from Fat 38, total Fat 4.2g (sat 0.3g), Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 50mg, Carbohydrate 33.3g, Fiber 6.7g, Protein 6.6g

VEGETARIAN STUFFED PEPPERS

This recipe was posted by DWYATT on AllRecipes, and begins, "This was the first vegetarian recipe I ever made--green peppers stuffed with a mixture of brown rice, nuts, dried cranberries, tofu and cheese. Substitute soy cheese for the Parmesan to create a vegan delight."

Prep: 10 minutes; Cook: 1 hour 10 minutes; Ready In: 1 hour 20 minutes

View this online here.

Note: If you're like me and don't have cooking sherry around, feel free to replace it with with alcohol-free cooking sherry (if there is such a thing) or 3 tablespoons of water. Personally, it's been decades since I've had cooking wine/sherry/etc in my house, as well as non-cooking (drinking) alcohol. When I want to celebrate, say at New Year's, etc., I've found that there are plenty of non-alcoholic sparkling juices on the market.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups brown rice

6 large green bell peppers

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons cooking sherry

1 teaspoon vegetarian Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 cups extra firm tofu

1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups tomato sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a saucepan bring 3 cups water to a boil. Stir in rice. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, core and seed green peppers, leaving bottoms intact. Place peppers in a microwavable dish with about 1/2 inch of water in the bottom. Microwave on high for 6 minutes.

In a small frying pan bring soy sauce, wine and Worcestershire sauce to a simmer. Add tofu and simmer until the liquid is absorbed. Combine rice (after it has cooled), tofu, cranberries, nuts, cheese, salt and pepper; mix and pack firmly into peppers. Return peppers to the dish you first microwaved them in, and bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over low heat, combine tomato sauce and brown sugar; heat until hot throughout. Spoon sauce over each serving.

ITALIAN GRILLED STUFFED PEPPERS

This comes from Kraft and begins, “Discover these Italian Grilled Stuffed Peppers and bring a little bit of Italy into your kitchen! These grilled stuffed peppers are delicious!”

Prep Time: 20 minutes; Total Time: 45 minutes; Servings: 6 servings

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1-3/4 cups water, divided

1-1/2 cups instant brown rice, uncooked

2 cups frozen BOCA Veggie Ground Crumbles

1 small zucchini, chopped

1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning

1-1/2 cups OLIVO by CLASSICO Traditional Pasta Sauce, divided

1-1/2 cups KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided

1 large each red, yellow and green pepper, cut lengthwise in half, seeded

Directions

Heat grill to medium-high heat.

Bring 1-1/2 cups water to boil in medium saucepan. Add rice; cover. Simmer 5 min. Remove from heat; let stand 5 min. Stir in crumbles, zucchini, seasoning and 1 cup each pasta sauce and cheese; spoon into peppers.

Place each filled pepper half on center of 12-inch-square sheet heavy-duty foil. Top with remaining sauce and cheese. Bring up foil sides. Spoon 1 Tbsp. of the remaining water onto bottom of each foil packet. Double fold top and ends to seal packets, leaving room for heat circulation inside.

Grill 20 to 25 min. or until peppers are crisp-tender and filling is heated through (160ºF).

STUFFED PEPPERS WITH TOMATO SAUCE

This is from Vegetarian Times, and begins, “Simple and festive, these peppers will be welcome at any time of year.”

Makes 8 servings, and can be viewed online here.

Ingredients

4 large red, green or yellow bell peppers

3 Tbs. olive oil

4 soy "sausage" links, cut into chunks

2 cups chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup minced parsley

2 14.5-oz. cans chopped tomatoes

1 tsp. dried thyme

3 cups cooked rice

1 cup plus 8 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese

8 sprigs fresh thyme for garnish, optional

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350F.

Slice bell peppers in half lengthwise. Remove core and seeds, rinse and pat dry. Set aside.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Sauté “sausage” for 2 minutes. Add onion, celery, garlic and parsley, and cook about 10 minutes more. Stir in 1/2 cup tomatoes, thyme and cayenne.

Put rice in bowl, and stir in vegetable mixture. Let stand 15 minutes so the rice absorbs any liquid from vegetables. Stir in cheese. Divide rice mixture among pepper halves, mounding mixture into cavities. Pour remaining tomato mixture into small baking dish. Nestle stuffed peppers on top of tomatoes. Cover dish with lid or aluminum foil.

Bake 1 hour. Uncover peppers, and sprinkle each pepper with 1 Tbs. Parmesan cheese. Cook, uncovered, 10 minutes. Serve with sauce from baking dish, and garnish, if desired.

Nutrition Information: Calories: 270; Carbohydrate Content: 31 g; Cholesterol Content: 15 mg; Fat Content: 11 g; Fiber Content: 5 g; Protein Content: 14 g; Saturated Fat Content: 3 g; Sodium Content: 470 mg; Sugar Content: 4 g